Search

Background: The consumption of beverages contributes to diet quality and overall nutrition. Studies on malted drinks, one of the widely consumed beverage choices among children in Asia, however, have received limited attention. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of malted drink consumption and explored associations of sociodemographic characteristics, nutrient intakes, weight status and physical activity levels with malted drink consumption among primary school children in Malaysia.Methods: Data for this analysis were from the MyBreakfast Study, a national cross-sectional study conducted from April to October 2013 throughout all regions in Malaysia. A total of 2065 primary school children aged 6 to 12 years were included in the present analysis. Data on two days 24-h dietary recall or record, anthropometry, physical activity and screen time were recorded. Associations between malted drink consumption and related factors were examined using binary logistic regression, adjusting for region, area, gender, ethnicity and household income.Results: Among children aged 6 to 12 years, 73.5% reported consuming malted drinks for at least once per week. Consumption of malted drinks was significantly associated with region (χ(2) = 45.64, p < 0.001), gender (χ(2) = 4.41, p = 0.036) and ethnicity (χ(2) = 13.74, p = 0.008). Malted drink consumers had similar total energy intake but higher micronutrient intakes compared to non-consumers. High physical activity level (OR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.06, 2.99) and lower screen time during weekends (OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.86, 0.99) were independently associated with malted drink consumption among 6 to 9 year-old children, but not among 10 to 12 year-old children. No association was observed between malted drink consumption and weight status.Conclusions: Malted drink consumption is prevalent among Malaysian primary school children, particularly higher among boys, indigenous children and those who lived in the East Coast region of Malaysia. Consuming malted drinks is associated with higher micronutrient intakes and higher levels of physical activity, but not with body weight status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Criteria for "difficult-to-treat" Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) (DTT-IBD) have recently been proposed to standardize terminology. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, characteristics, management, and outcomes of DTT-IBD., Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in two tertiary centers in Italy., Results: Among 1736 IBD patients treated with biologics/advanced small molecules, 430 (24.8%) met at least one DTT-IBD criterion, of which 331 (77%) failed at least 2 mechanisms of action.In ulcerative colitis (UC), left-sided and extended colitis were risk factors for DTT compared to proctitis (OR 6.55, 1.93-40.98, p=0.011; and OR 10.12, 3.01-63.14, p=0.002, respectively). In Crohn's disease (CD), multiple localizations (L3+L4) (OR 3.04, 1.09-8.34, p=0.03), stricturing (OR 2.24, 1.52-3.34, p<0.001) and penetrating (OR 2.33, 1.55-3.53, p<0.001) behaviors, and perianal disease (OR 2.49, 1.75-3.53, p<0.001) were the main risk factors for DTT.Delay in advanced treatment initiation was positively associated with DTT-CD (OR 1.74, 1.27-2.41 p=0.001) but protective in UC (OR 0.65, 0.45-0.93 p=0.019).The rates of symptomatic, biochemical, and endoscopic remission were lower in DTT-IBD compared to non-DTT-IBD. The difference was most evident for endoscopic remission (25% vs 62%).Drug persistency in each following line of treatment progressively decreased in CD and UC. All advanced drugs used in DTT-IBD had similar persistence., Conclusions: DTT-IBD was prevalent in approximately one-quarter of patients with IBD in a tertiary care setting. Certain IBD phenotypes and the delay in initiating treatment in CD were risk factors for DTT. Drug persistency decreased progressively with every subsequent line of therapy., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: As new therapies for the treatment of Crohn's disease (CD) are approved, there is an increasing need for evidence that clarifies their positioning and sequencing., Areas Covered: Comparative effectiveness research (CER) aims to inform physicians' decisions when they choose which intervention (drug or treatment strategy) to administer to their patients. Pragmatic head-to-head trials represent the best tools for CER, but only a few have been published in the IBD field. Network meta-analyses can point toward the superiority of one drug over another, but they do not reflect everyday clinical practice. Finally, real-world evidence complements that coming from head-to-head trials and network meta-analyses, assessing the real-life effectiveness of therapeutic interventions., Expert Opinion: There is insufficient evidence to create a definitive therapeutic algorithm for CD, but some general considerations can be made. Anti-TNF-α agents seemingly represent the most 'sustainable' first-line choice, considering benefit-harm ratio and costs; vedolizumab, ustekinumab, and risankizumab may be considered as first-line choice when safety issues become prominent. In the event of pharmacodynamic failure, out-of-class swap is to be preferred - possibly with anti-IL23p19 as the best option, with unclear data regarding upadacitinib positioning; a second anti-TNF-α could be considered, as a second choice, after pharmacokinetic failure.